Electrodes are widely used in many devices that store electrical energy, including primary (non-rechargeable) battery cells, secondary (rechargeable) battery cells, fuel cells, and capacitors. Important characteristics of electrical energy storage devices include energy density, power density, maximum charging rate, internal leakage current, equivalent series resistance (ESR), and durability, i.e., the ability to withstand multiple charge-discharge cycles. For a number of reasons, double layer capacitors, also known as supercapacitors and ultracapacitors, are gaining popularity in many energy storage applications. The reasons include availability of double layer capacitors with high power densities (in both charge and discharge modes), and with energy densities approaching those of conventional rechargeable cells.
Double layer capacitors use electrodes immersed in an electrolyte (an electrolytic solution) as their energy storage element. Typically, a porous separator immersed in and impregnated with the electrolyte ensures that the electrodes do not come in contact with each other, preventing electronic current flow directly between the electrodes. At the same time, the porous separator allows ionic currents to flow through the electrolyte between the electrodes in both directions. As discussed below, double layers of charges are formed at the interfaces between the solid electrodes and the electrolyte. Double layer capacitors owe their descriptive name to these layers.
When electric potential is applied between a pair of electrodes of a double layer capacitor, ions that exist within the electrolyte are attracted to the surfaces of the oppositely-charged electrodes, and migrate towards the electrodes. A layer of oppositely-charged ions is thus created and maintained near each electrode surface. Electrical energy is stored in the charge separation layers between these ionic layers and the charge layers of the corresponding electrode surfaces. In fact, the charge separation layers behave essentially as electrostatic capacitors. Electrostatic energy can also be stored in the double layer capacitors through orientation and alignment of molecules of the electrolytic solution under influence of the electric field induced by the potential. This mode of energy storage, however, is secondary.
In comparison to conventional capacitors, double layer capacitors have high capacitance in relation to their volume and weight. There are two main reasons for these volumetric and weight efficiencies. First, the charge separation layers are very narrow. Their widths are typically on the order of nanometers. Second, the electrodes can be made from a porous material, having very large effective surface area per unit volume. Because capacitance is directly proportional to the electrode area and inversely proportional to the widths of the charge separation layers, the combined effect of the large effective surface area and narrow charge separation layers is capacitance that is very high in comparison to that of conventional capacitors of similar size and weight. High capacitance of double layer capacitors allows the capacitors to receive, store, and release large amounts of electrical energy.
Electrical energy stored in a capacitor is determined using a well-known formula:
                    E        =                                            C              *                              V                2                                      2                    .                                    (        1        )            In this formula, E represents the stored energy, C stands for the capacitance, and V is the voltage of the charged capacitor. Thus, the maximum energy (Em) that can be stored in a capacitor is given by the following expression:
                                          E            m                    =                                    C              *                              V                r                2                                      2                          ,                            (        2        )            where Vr stands for the rated voltage of the capacitor. It follows that a capacitor's energy storage capability depends on both (1) its capacitance, and (2) its rated voltage. Increasing these two parameters is therefore important to capacitor performance. Indeed, because the total energy storage capacity varies linearly with capacitance and as a second order of the voltage rating, increasing the voltage rating is the more important of the two objectives.
Voltage ratings of double layer capacitors are generally limited by chemical reactions (e.g., reduction or oxidation) and breakdown that take place within the electrolytic solution in presence of an electric field induced between capacitor electrodes. Electrolytes currently used in double layer capacitors are of two kinds. The first kind includes aqueous electrolytic solutions, for example, potassium hydroxide and sulfuric acid solutions.
Double layer capacitors may also be made with organic electrolytes, such as propylene carbonate (PC) solution, acetonitrile (AN) solution, certain liquid crystal electrolytes, and even solid electrolytes.
Double layer capacitor cells manufactured using organic electrolytes and activated carbon are typically rated at or below 2.5 volts in order to achieve a commercially acceptable number of charge-discharge cycles. Even small increases in the rated voltage above 2.5 volts tend to reduce substantially the number of charge-discharge cycles that the capacitors can withstand without significant deterioration in performance. As an approximation, every 100 millivolt increase in the rated capacitor voltage results in halving of the number of charge-discharge cycles that the capacitor can reliably withstand.
The 2.5 volt rating is considerably below theoretical breakdown voltage of organic electrolytes. With noble metal (inert) electrodes, such as platinum electrodes, breakdown voltages approaching 4.0 volts and possibly higher may be achievable. One part of the low breakdown voltage problem therefore lies in the carbon used in the electrodes of double layer capacitors. Pure carbon tends to have relatively high surface energy states, thereby contributing to the decrease in the electrolyte breakdown voltage. Nevertheless, according to some calculations, double layer capacitors made with an organic electrolyte and activated carbon should perform reliably at voltages ranging to about 3.2–3.5 volts. As noted above, achieving this range has been an elusive goal because of early decomposition and breakdown of the electrolyte.
It would be desirable to increase actual breakdown voltage of electrolyte in electrical devices with porous electrodes, such as double layer capacitors. It would also be desirable to improve reliability and durability of double layer capacitors, as measured by the number of charge-discharge cycles that a double layer capacitor can withstand without a significant deterioration in its operating characteristics. It would further be desirable to provide porous electrodes that, when immersed in an electrolyte, do not lower the breakdown voltage of the electrolyte to the same extent as known porous electrodes. Additionally, it would be desirable to provide electrical devices, such as double layer capacitors, using these electrodes.